


Of Similar Names and Misunderstandings

by FallenNiji



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Crushes, Jealousy, M/M, Minimum swearing, Misunderstandings, SO MUCH FLUFF, Sort of incest, This has a podfic, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-05
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2019-02-28 21:30:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13280253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallenNiji/pseuds/FallenNiji
Summary: "Due to name confusion, staff of the Slovak and Slovenian embassies meet once a month to exchange wrongly addressed mail." — TruthHowever, that is just a cover-up to hide what really goes on behind the scenes. It isn't the embassies that visit, it's the nations themselves. And Slovenia is excited to visit his dearest cousin Slovakia, but a secret weighs on his mind that no one is allowed to know. Especially not Radoslav.—~—~—Originally posted on Hetalia Amino, just saying.Also—http://archiveofourown.org/works/13279437The podfic.





	Of Similar Names and Misunderstandings

**Author's Note:**

> Do note that this was originally posted on Hetalia Amino for a challenge set by someone I admire. 
> 
> Podfic: http://archiveofourown.org/works/13279437

Slovenia sighed and glanced around the small train station he was waiting in. It was a beautiful day; children were running around pulling their parent's hands, teenagers were chatting and waiting for their friends and trains, and adults were rushing around to make it to their trains in time before they departed. As he was waiting outside, he could observe the natural beauty of the town's nature and architecture. It was old, covered in snow but still had its beauty. A few birds were flying around and picking at fallen food, leaving little sticks of footprints in the snow, but they mainly avoided him.

The nation sighed before glancing at the large clock that stood at the entry of the main entrance. Eleven fourty three. Of course, his host was late. How... Expected. That boy (he can't call him a man when he barely looked eighteen) tended to be either too late or too early to everything without his sister being there to remind him. His expression soured. His sister... Technically, Slovenia's cousin... Well, he and her didn't have a bad relationship per say, but they don't go out of their way to meet up or chat past pleasantries.

But his little host... That boy was special. True, he was easily frazzled, shy, clumsy and too easy going, but somehow it was all endearing. His clumsiness was also rather useful, seeing as half the time he seemed to either trip into Slovenia, his sister or one of their eastern cousins. Not to mention, his shyness made him look like a little puppy. A puppy which wanted to be picked up and carried around. His patience was also a bonus, even if he had the bad little habit of making people impatient. Rado was usually obsessed with small little things, his current obsession was Philippines (which did not make him jealous, nope, not at all jealous...). Janez wasn't afraid to admit that he had a small crush on Rado, but only to himself. But now that he thought on it, it might not just be a “little” crush. Learning every one of Rado's favourite songs might just be a small bit past “little”. But, in all honesty, who cared? Maybe Sylvia, and Ivan as well, but they would never find out. He'd sooner die than let anyone find out about his dirty little secret. Having a crush on his cousin... Mother would be so disappointed.

"S—Janez!" A voice cut through his thoughts, sounding frazzled, and the nation turned. As expected, his host and crush was running towards him at top speeds. The Slovene's eyes widened. Rado was clumsy, so he w—

As he thought, Slovakia tripped over a crack and fell straight on his face. "Rado!" The blond rushed over to the brunet's side, placing a hand on his shoulder and helping him pull himself into a sitting position. Janez ignored the stares they were gathering with practiced ease (look at the other Slavs and think about all the stuff they do, and how much of that he was there). "Are you alright?" He mumbled quietly in English. While he did lo—like Rado, Janez didn't have the patience to learn the horror that is the Slovak language. He understood a bit, but he would never be able to live in Slovakia.

"Owowow~" Rado whined, rubbing at his throbbing forehead. Janez flinched at hearing the pain in his voice, and gave an awkward smile. "Um, Rado..?" The Slovak was still whining and groaning, so he repeated himself louder this time. The Slovak looked up and blinked. "Does it hurt that much..?"

"N–No, but..." Rado blushed and looked at the hand resting on his shoulder. He flushed an even darker colour. Janez followed his gaze, eyes falling on the hand gripping the smaller male's shoulder. His eyes widened and he flushed a similar colour to Rado's own. "Sorry," he mumbled shyly after retracting his arm, holding it to his chest awkwardly.

"I–It's okay, Jan." The Slovak smiled back at him, oh and WHY did his face feel so hot suddenly. And that nickname... It made Janez very happy to hear that he had also gained a nickname similar to the one Janez gave Rado, or rather Radoslav. He blinked, staring into Rado's eyes. They were a blueish-green colour. Janez always assumed the blue represented either the clear Slovak sky or its rivers and lakes; and the green represented the numerous nature in Slovakia. Rado's eyes were beautiful, unique. They showed all his emotions, and it would be correct to say Rado carried his heart on his sleeve. Right now, for example, they seemed to be shining with excitement, nervousness, embarrassment and an emotion Janez couldn't place. He wondered, because he had seen that emotion somewhere before...

Janez, remembering they were in the middle of a street, pushed himself up and offered a hand to Rado. The Slovak blushed and grabbed the hand. He pulled Rado up and pulled him to a bench covered in graffiti and bird poop, where he had left his bag.

"S—So are you excited?" Rado's cheerfulness was back, embarrassment almost forgotten. Janez saw that he was still a little red in the face, but otherwise well, so he grabbed his bag and nodded. "Yes, I am." He smiled.

"I am too!" Rado grinned, "This will be the first time you're here when it's snowing! I mean, we always meet up at your place or Bratislava or Komárno, but this time we're in Vysoké Tatry where there's a lot of snow and hot chocolate and palacinky and polievky and skiing! Oh I live skiing, don't you? Oh wait, stupid question. I know you do." Rado smiled at him, and with a warm chest, Janez returned it with a small smile of his own. Rado turned red and looked at the clock. "Whoa! I was really late! I'm so sorry Jan!" He apologized, ashamed.

"There's no need for apologies," Janez hurriedly assured the downed worrywart. "It was only fifteen minutes. Not that long you see." He awkwardly ruffled Rado's hair. It was soft, like marshmallows.

"Really?"

"Really," he nodded.

"Thank god!" Rado beamed. "I was so worried you'd be mad at me." They started walking towards the mountains, where Janez assumed Rado's cottage was. Yes, thry would be staying at Rado's mountain home and would be going skiing during the week Janez was visiting. The High Tatra mountains were beautiful during both winter and summer, but they had a sort of magic to them while covered in snow.

"I could never be mad at you," Janez replied honestly. He blinked not a second later, wondering why Rado's face was red and why his eyes were wide. Before he could voice his question, the Slovak laughed nervously and looked away from him. Was it just his imagination, or was Rado's ear red?

"W–We should get going if we want to sort out all the mail and still have time to go eat something." Ah, yes, the mail. How could he have forgotten? The only reason Slovenia was visiting Slovakia was because of the monthly mail exchange between their countries. Apparently SOME people couldn't tell the difference between names and flags. So, as agreed, the two nations met once a month to exchange wrongly addressed mail between the two of them.

"Y–Yes, we should." Janez nodded awkwardly.

The two walked the rest of the way to Rado's cottage in an awkward silence.

—~—~—

"This one's from Mr. America," Janez sighed. "Again." He didn't know what it was, but it was Alfred who mistook them for each other more than any other nation. But he shouldn't even be all that surprised; Alfred didn't even know he had a brother while Matthew was the second biggest nation in the world.

"What is that, like, the ninth letter from him?" Rado said, voice tinted with amusement.

Janez sighed, taking a look at the now-reduced-to-half pile of letters. There were still quite a lot, but nothing the two Slavs couldn't handle. "More like tenth," he snarked, before shuddering. The word 'like' coming out of the north Slavic's mouth; it reminded Janez too much of the smaller boy's genderfluid brother. And last he checked, Feliks was screwing (or being screwed by) one of Ivan's Baltics. Which Janez didn't want to happen to sweet Radoslav. The only one allowed to scr— he quickly shook his head. Nope, not thinking about that!

Rado laughed loudly, and Janez counted it as a win. Rado only laughed like that when he was with him. He smiled, smug.

Hearing the familiar sound of bones creaking, the Slovenian turned. The light brunet was stretching making the dirty blond avert his eyes. "Hej, Jan?" The sound of his voice from Rado made him look at the smaller boy. "Want to go out and check out everything?"

He blinked. "But the mai–"

"We still have a week to do it," Rado interrupted. "And if we continue with this now, we won't be able to check anything out today before it gets dark." He reasoned. Rado always had a way with words, he could recite poetry about even the smallest of birds, much to everyone's disbelief. Seriously, how does one do that?!

Slumping, the Slovenian sighed and agreed. Rado's eyes lit up like Christmas lights and before Janez knew it, he was getting dragged through the town by an overly cheerful Slovak. He could barely even turn his head to look at all the decorations and Christmas sales. But even then, the town was beautifully decorated and gave off a rather homey feel. He spotted a group of girls gathering donations and giving out tea, and was surprised to see it was girls from the Red Cross project. It was like a hand was squeezing his heart. Why did that damn Zwingli get to have his mark here while he didn't?

Frustration gathered in his mind. Why was it always someone else? Elizabeta, Roderich, Ivan, Sylvia, Feliks, Zwingli... They all got to have something of their's here, so why didn't Janez? He was much closer to Rado than any of them! He faltered. True, he only saw his crush at the Slavic Meetings and during the once–a–month meet ups, while even Feliciano saw Rado more due to the (former-)Axis Powers meetings! Not even realising, he had kicked a can out of his way rather aggressively.

"Whoa, you okay there Jan?" His current origin of frustration's voice knocked him back from his thoughts. "You kicked that can there rather angrily." He snickered.

"I'm. Fine. Perfectly fine." He ground out. Rado's smile fell and Janez flinched. Aw hell.  Great. He just made his crush lose his smile. Just great.

"Just, just hungry." He smiled, but it was all fake and empty. He hoped Rado didn't notice. But the Slovak's smile dulled though he remained silent.

They walked through the town, smiling at the welcoming people and the pretty decorations. It was cold, but not like the temperatures in places like Russia and Canada. It took quite a while for the two to find a restaurant with an empty place; Slovaks can get rather crazy and hyperactive during the winter holidays so it was no surprise to see everything packed. But somehow they managed it. The two sat at a small table in the corner of the room, silent, until the waitress came around to take their orders.

Rado ordered a soup for Janez at his request and for himself he ordered bryndzové halušky. The waitress, blushing in Rado's direction, nodded and said a few more words. Slovakia's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and he shot back with a questioning tone. She blushed and shifted awkwardly, speaking a few uneasy — if not shy — words. Rado nodded and told her something in a reluctant tone. The waitress left shortly after. Janez tried not to be jealous, but it was hard — no, impossible.

"What was that about?" He mummered, grumpy. Rado blinked, confused, and replied, "Er, ona—she was just asking me about my preference for my bryndzové halušky." He averted his eyes, and Janez's heart squeezed. He was lying; Rado was lying to him. Rado never lied to him, not once. So why was he lying now?

"I—" He licked his suddenly dry lips, a lump in his throat. "I need to, uh, go..." 

"What?" Rado blinked. "Oh! Then go!" He flushed and pointed to the men's toilet. Janez rolled his eyes, like he wouldn't have been able to find it on his own. The Slovenian stood up quickly and rushed to do his humanly needs.

He sighed, the cold water sending a pleasant tingle through his hands. He dried his hands off with a paper towel, after which he exited the washroom. He hoped their food had already arrived, he was starving!

He stopped short. There was Rado sitting at their table, smiling. Any other day it would've made him blush, but it didn't. Because he was talking to the waitress from before. She was too close too him, blushing too much and smiling at him with those too shy eyes. She giggled and leaned down, whispering something into his ears that had his face blooming into a beautiful red. He felt something bubbling inside him. It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling, but this time it was too intense. Why was she so close to him? He was never allowed to be that close! 

Janez felt like crying. Why, why, why, why?! He's tried so hard, and yet, the first girl with pretty eyes and he's already lost him! It hurt him, it hurt his heart so much to see him laughing and blushing with that brunette girl. But it wasn't such a surprise now, was it? He was Rado's cousin, and he was pretty damn sure the Slovak was not gay. He shouldn't even have thought it would work out.

He stood a while away wallowing in his own jealousy, hurt and heartbreak until the waitress smirked at Rado and passed him a piece of paper, said a few words that made him blush again, and walked away. After a minute he approached the table with a blank expression, trying not to show his hurt. It hurt so much...

"Hej, Jan!" His c—no, no he can't think like that anymore!— Rado grinned. "You took a while, I was getting worried. But our food has arrived!" He gestured to the rapidly cooling food. "Huh, is something wrong? You look a little down..." He frowned, peering up at him. 

Janez looked at him coldly. "I'm perfectly fine. Let's eat before it gets cold." He sat down and started on his food. 

The rest of their time in the restaurant passed in silence between them, but Rado always attempted to start a conversation, which quickly ended when Janez didn't reply. They soon left the place and started exploring, Janez being silent the whole time. He distracted himself by looking at the decorations and snow and beautiful ladies walking around. When it was already dark and freezing, the two nations hurried off to Rado's cottage. The Slovak tried to talk to him as they undressed from their coats and boots, but Janez kept his head bowed and avoided looking at him. Rado got the message and they parted ways, both going to their own rooms.

Janez huffed. He was laying on the large bed, staring up at the ceiling with a frown. He was so excited for today, and now... He sighed and turned to his sighed. A broken heart was never easy to fix, but he would try.

—~—~—

They finished sorting through the mail the next morning. It was rather easy now that there was only a few dozen, half of which were from English speaking countries. At least the other Slavs didn't mistake them for each other most of the time. 

"So, we're going skiing today..." Rado began awkwardly. Janez nodded curtly. He wasn't in the mood for speaking with the Slovak. He heard the dirty blonde sigh, but he carefully kept his eyes on the two neat stacks of mail. He really should take them to hid room.

"Janez, I think we need to t–" He stood up. Janez smiled at the surprised boy awkwardly. "Sorry Rado, I really should take them into my room so I don't forget. And get my skiing gear." He grabbed the stack and hurried away, not acknowledging the other nation's words of protest.

Two days passed with this sort of behaviour, with Janez avoiding Rado at every turn and Rado trying to talk to his cousin. Sure, they went skiing together but Janez was always careful to stay a bit ahead of his cousin so he couldn't speak to him. The only time he even acknowledged him was during dinner, where they had to talk, but even then it was just a few short words exchanged.

—~—~—

It was on the fifth day of Janez's visit that the normally laid-back and patient Slovak snapped. It started out normally, then at breakfast with Rado trying to start up a conversation and Janez ignoring his everything eord.

Finally, Rado slammed his hands onto the table and stood up with a glare. Janez stared at him with wide eyes. The Slovak looked so angry... He'd never seen him look like that. Not even during WW2, not even when Sylvia was hurt, never.... 

"I'm done," he began. His words sent a shiver of fear and something else down his spine. "I've tried to talk to you, I've tried to watch hockey with you, I've even tried to skii next to you! But NO! Everytime you shove me away and spout out some excuse, or better, you don't even say a meep! We do this every month so we can hang out and have fun, but this time you're acting like someone shoved a lemon down your throat and killed you damn cat! So tell me," he leaned closer to Janez, looking him straight in the eyes with those piercing nature eyes. It was as if Mother Earth was staring right into his soul, disappointed. His breath hitched. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" 

Janez stood up, looking paler than usual. "Nothing, I just..." He faltered. Oh no... Tears prickled in his eyes and the nation looked away. He hoped Rado didn't see them. It would be a disaster if he did... "I just..."

"Wait, Janez, are you crying?" His tone was soft again, concerned, for him. Well damn, he did notice. Janez felt all of a sudden angry. Angry at Rado, angry at the waitress, angry at himself, hell, he was even angry at Sylvia!

"So now you care." The words came out unexpectedly bitter. "You didn't seem to care when that waitress was sticking her breasts into your face." He regretted those words as soon as they left his mouth.

Rado looked so hurt, so insulted, that Janez flinched. "W–What? Klaudia wasn't–she wasn't–what are you talking about?" His tone was low and even, eyes looking at the teary eyed Slovene in front of him thoughtfully. 

"God, you're so blind." Janez burried his face into his hands. "I love you, you idiot." It felt as if a weight had been taken off his shoulders. He finally admitted it, even if a little too late. "I've loved you for a long time and–and I should've said this a lot sooner, but I just... I just had to say it now. Even if you already have that Klaudia, and this might complicate our affairs by a ton, I wanted to say this. You need to know. I can't keep lying to you like this." He nearly sobbed.

"What." Rado sared at him. Was he so disgusted at him that he couldn't even think of anything to say? Probably.

He stood up and started to leave the kitchen. "I, I understand that you don't feel the same way. We're cousins, I get it. I'll go pack my stuff and get out of your hair soon. Just don't sicc Feleq and Sylvia on me." He pleaded, not daring to look at him.

It was a great surprise when Rado started to laugh. And it was one of those big laughs, ones that make your whole body shake. He was so surprised he stopped dead in his tracks and turned around. Rado was hunched over his stomach, holding it with his arms and laughing his ass off.

"Wait–why are you laughing?!" He felt offended. "This isn't something to brush off and laugh at! I'm completely serious."

"I know you are," Rado grabbed ahold of the table to steady himself. He wiped away tears from his eyes and smiled. "And I'm happy you are. Because I love you too."

Janez swore his heart skipped a beat or few. "W–What?"

Rado rolled his eyes. "You heard me. I'm in love with a directionless, shy little idiot who loves collecting seashells and playing music. I'm in live with you, Janez."

"B–But, what about that waitress?" He was just so confused. Rado loved him?

"Klaudia is an old friend of mine and she was sorta, uh, giving me some tips on how to woo you." He blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. Janez recognised it as his nervous habit.

"And, and the paper she gave you?" He started to hope.

Rado's eyebrows shot up. "How long were you there? She gave me her number so I could call her when I needed some advice." The Slovak smiled and took a few steps forward, pulling the shocked nation into a tight, loving hug. 

Janez, on the other hand, was still trying to process his words. Rado loved him. Rado loved him. And Rado wasn't sleeping with that Klaudia chick. He was getting advice from her on how to woo him. On how to... He burst into colour, hugging Rado back and burying hid head in his shoulder.

Rado chuckled and patted his head. "I love you, poklad¹."

"I–I love you too, sonček²." Blushing, his face hidden in Rado's shoulder, Janez smiled. Maybe it was a good thing everyone mistook their names, because otherwise he wouldn't have time to spend with this perfect little heart.

—~—~—

The two idiots enjoyed their last days by cuddling, skiing, watching movies and shouting at the hockey games going on on TV. They were barely seperated from each other, attached at the hips said Klaudia. And speaking of Klaudia, Janez made sure to apologise to her but she just waved him off saying it was no problem.

But soon their week was coming to an end and Janez had to leave. His clothes and things were already packed up by noon, but the boy didn't feel all that happy to return to his country like usual. It would be another week before the two would meet, at the Slavic Christmas meet-up, but the two would barely be able to interact there due to certain family members. And if Janez hugged or kissed her brother, Sylvia would be on him faster than a bloodhound.

"Oh cheer up, it isn't like we're never going to meet again." Rado rubbed Janez's clenched fist soothingly. They were waiting for the train that would take him to Warsaw, where he'd catch a plane that would take him back home.

"For all we know, it could be." He replied mournfully. Sylvia was going to murder him.

Rado rolled his eyes. "We can Skype with eachother. And when I told Syl we were dating, she didn't sound THAT mad. Just expect a shovel talk." He nearly choked on his own tongue at that. Rado told Sylvia? He told that she-demon?! A shove talk his ass, she was going to skewer him! He paled.

He probably saw his distress, because the next thing he knew, Janez was pulled into a sweet kiss. He blushed and kissed back shyly. When they pulled away for air, his face closely resembled the tomatoes the southern part of Italy loved. 

"Like I said, don't worry. If Syl tries to hurt you, she'll be the one getting hurt." There was something in his eyes that sent shivers down Janez's spine. The two stared at each other, Rado conveying emotions with his eyes that words would never be able to explain. Janez stared back, unblinking. They were in their own world...

**CHOO-CHOO**

The two jumped. Two pairs of wide eyes stared at each other, shook. They totally hadn't expected that, not even a bit. Because that sound meant that Janez had to leave.

"So, Skype?" Janez's voice croaked. 

"Skype." Rado nodded.

The nations exchanged one last kiss before the Southern nation had to board. He couldn't stop staring out the window and waving at his boyfriend – boyfriend! – and he only did stop when he couldn't see Rado anymore.

He lent back in his seat and smiled. Just a few days before they would meet again...

**Author's Note:**

> Slovakia: Radoslav Horváth (Why this name: Radosť means happiness/gladness and sláva means glory, and because Horváth is one of the popular surnames in Slovakia)  
> Slovenia: Janez Kovačič (again, popular names)  
> Czech Republic: Sylvia Novak. Yup, Sylvia won in the poll~ I was hoping for Tamara.
> 
> ¹: Slovak term of endearment meaning treasure  
> ²: Slovenian term of endearment meaning sunshine
> 
> To be honest, I would've done the meeting in Slovenia, but I don't know much about it.
> 
> Constructive criticism is appreciated, just not downright insults. I know this is bad myself.
> 
> If this gets good feedback, I might just end up writing Slovakia's POV of this.


End file.
